J. E. Mainer
Encyclopedia
J. E. Mainer was an American old time fiddler who followed in the wake of Gid Tanner
and his Skillet Lickers.
and learned to play the banjo and fiddle from an early age. Since Wade
, his brother, also was interested in learning to play the banjo, he left that to Wade and concentrated on the fiddle. Soon, Mainer began performing at local country barn dances. He found work at a textile mill in Knoxville, Tennessee
but moved to Concord, North Carolina
in 1922 for another work in a mill.
Mainer's fame as a fiddler rose and sponsored by the Crazy Water Crystals in 1933, he and his newly formed band consisting of J. E. on fiddle, Wade Mainer on banjo, and Zeke Morris on guitar, made their radio debut on WBT in Charlotte, North Carolina
calling themselves "J.E.Mainer and his Crazy Mountaineers." The band appeared on several radio stations in the following years until 1935, when they received a recording contract on. In August the same year, the Mountaineers, with the addition of "Daddy" John Love, recorded for Bluebird Records
. Wade Mainer and Zeke Morris temporarily left the band in the early 1936 to form a duo. In the meantime Ollie Bunn, Howard Bumgardner and Clarence Todd replaced Wade, Zeke and "Daddy" John Love on the next recording session. In the summer of 1936, Wade and Zeke returned to record with "the mountaineers". The next year, in 1937, Wade Mainer formed the "Sons of the Mountaineers". Shortly, a new change of personnel occurred when Leonard "Lester" Stokes and George Morris became members of "the mountaineers" calling themselves "Handsome and Sambo". They added Snuffy Jenkins
on banjo on the following recording session. In late 1938, Stokes and Morris were once more replaced by Clyde Moody
and Jay Hugh Hall. The band continued to perform on radio stations in both North and South Carolina.
The Mountaineers disbanded at the outbreak of World War II
, but Mainer continued to record in the late 1940s, together with his sons, Glenn and Curly, for King Records. In the 1970s, after his death, literally hundreds of post-war recordings were released on Rural Rhythm Records.
Gid Tanner
James Gideon Tanner was an American old time fiddler and one of the earliest stars of what would come to be known as country music. His band, the Skillet Lickers, was one of the most innovative and influential string bands of the 1920s and 1930s...
and his Skillet Lickers.
Biography
Joseph Emmett Mainer grew up on a farm in the mountains near Weaverville, North CarolinaWeaverville, North Carolina
Weaverville is a town in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 2,646 in 2007. It is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Weaverville is located at ....
and learned to play the banjo and fiddle from an early age. Since Wade
Wade Mainer
Wade Mainer was an American singer and banjoist. With his band, the Sons of the Mountaineers, he is credited with bridging the gap between old-time mountain music and Bluegrass and is sometimes called the "Grandfather of Bluegrass." In addition, he innovated a two-finger banjo fingerpicking style,...
, his brother, also was interested in learning to play the banjo, he left that to Wade and concentrated on the fiddle. Soon, Mainer began performing at local country barn dances. He found work at a textile mill in Knoxville, Tennessee
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
but moved to Concord, North Carolina
Concord, North Carolina
Concord is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. According to Census 2010, the city has a current population of 79,066. It is the largest city in Cabarrus County and is the county seat. In terms of population, the city of Concord is the second largest city in the Charlotte Metropolitan Area...
in 1922 for another work in a mill.
Mainer's fame as a fiddler rose and sponsored by the Crazy Water Crystals in 1933, he and his newly formed band consisting of J. E. on fiddle, Wade Mainer on banjo, and Zeke Morris on guitar, made their radio debut on WBT in Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
calling themselves "J.E.Mainer and his Crazy Mountaineers." The band appeared on several radio stations in the following years until 1935, when they received a recording contract on. In August the same year, the Mountaineers, with the addition of "Daddy" John Love, recorded for Bluebird Records
Bluebird Records
Bluebird Records is a sub-label of RCA Victor Records originally created in 1932 to counter the American Record Company in the "3 records for a dollar" market. Along with ARC's Perfect Records, Melotone Records and Romeo Records, and the independent US Decca label, Bluebird became one of the best...
. Wade Mainer and Zeke Morris temporarily left the band in the early 1936 to form a duo. In the meantime Ollie Bunn, Howard Bumgardner and Clarence Todd replaced Wade, Zeke and "Daddy" John Love on the next recording session. In the summer of 1936, Wade and Zeke returned to record with "the mountaineers". The next year, in 1937, Wade Mainer formed the "Sons of the Mountaineers". Shortly, a new change of personnel occurred when Leonard "Lester" Stokes and George Morris became members of "the mountaineers" calling themselves "Handsome and Sambo". They added Snuffy Jenkins
Snuffy Jenkins
DeWitt "Snuffy" Jenkins was an American old time banjo player and an early proponent of the three-finger banjo style.-Biography:...
on banjo on the following recording session. In late 1938, Stokes and Morris were once more replaced by Clyde Moody
Clyde Moody
Clyde Moody , also known as the "Hillbilly Waltz King" and sometimes as "The Genial Gentleman of Country Music" was one the great founders of American Bluegrass music....
and Jay Hugh Hall. The band continued to perform on radio stations in both North and South Carolina.
The Mountaineers disbanded at the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, but Mainer continued to record in the late 1940s, together with his sons, Glenn and Curly, for King Records. In the 1970s, after his death, literally hundreds of post-war recordings were released on Rural Rhythm Records.
J. E. Mainer's Mountaineers
| Matrix | Title | Record # | Recording date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 94328 | "Ship's Sailing Now" | Bluebird 6088 | August 6, 1935 | |
| 94329 | "This World Is Not My Home" | Bluebird 6088 | August 6, 1935 | |
| 94330 | "Maple On the Hill" | Bluebird 6065 | August 6, 1935 | |
| 94331 | "Take Me In the Lifeboat" | Bluebird 6065 | August 6, 1935 | |
| 94332 | "Seven and a Half" | Bluebird 6792 | August 6, 1935 | |
| 94333 | "New Curly Headed Baby" | Bluebird 6104 | August 6, 1935 | |
| 94336 | "Broken Hearted Blues" | Bluebird 6090 | August 6, 1935 | |
| 94337 | "Greenback Dollar" | Bluebird 6090 | August 6, 1935 | Daddy John Love |
| 94338 | "Let Her Go God Bless Her" | Bluebird 6104 | August 6, 1935 | |
| 94339 | "City On the Hill" | Bluebird 6160 | August 6, 1935 | |
| 94340 | "The Longest Train" | Bluebird 6222 | August 6, 1935 | |
| 94341 | "Write a Letter To Mother" | Bluebird 6194 | August 6, 1935 | |
| 94342 | "Lights In the Valley" | Bluebird 6160 | August 6, 1935 | |
| 94343 | "Searching For a Pair of Blue Eyes" | Bluebird 6194 | August 6, 1935 | Daddy John Love |
| 99106 | "My Wife Went Away and Left Me" | Bluebird 6294 | February 14, 1936 | Daddy John Love |
| 99107 | "Railroad Blues" | Bluebird 6624 | February 14, 1936 | Daddy John Love |
| 99109 | "Over the Hills In Carolina" | Bluebird 6675 | February 14, 1936 | Daddy John Love |
| 99110 | "Budded Roses" | Bluebird 6675 | February 14, 1936 | |
| 99111 | "What Makes Him Do It" | Bluebird 6624 | February 14, 1936 | |
| 99112 | "My Little Red Ford" | Bluebird 6294 | February 14, 1936 | Daddy John Love |
| 99113 | "Goin' Back West In the Fall" | Bluebird 6440 | February 14, 1936 | |
| 99114 | "New Lost Train Blues" | Bluebird 6424 | February 14, 1936 | |
| 99115 | "Number 111" | Bluebird 6424 | February 14, 1936 | |
| 99116 | "I Am Walking In the Light" | Bluebird 6385 | February 14, 1936 | |
| 99117 | "Don't Cause Mother's Hair To Turn Grey" | Bluebird 6324 | February 14, 1936 | |
| 99118 | "When I Reach My Home Eternal" | Bluebird 6385 | February 14, 1936 | |
| 99119 | "Fatal Wreck of the Bus" | Bluebird 6290 | February 14, 1936 | |
| 99120 | "Behind the Parlor Door" | Bluebird 6440 | February 14, 1936 | |
| 99121 | "Satisfied" | Bluebird 6324 | February 14, 1936 | |
| 99122 | "One To Love Me" | Bluebird 6290 | February 14, 1936 | |
| 99138 | "Maple On the Hill, Part 2" | Bluebird 6293 | February 15, 1936 | |
| 99139 | "Going To Georgia" | Bluebird 6423 | February 15, 1936 | |
| 99140 | "Nobody's Darling But Mine" | Bluebird 6423 | February 15, 1936 | |
| 102600 | "On a Cold Winter Night" | Bluebird 6629 | June 15, 1936 | |
| 102601 | "John Henry Was a Little Boy" | Bluebird 6629 | June 15, 1936 | |
| 102602 | "The Old and Faded Picture" | Bluebird 6479 | June 15, 1936 | |
| 102603 | "Take Me Home To the Sweet Sunny South" | Bluebird 6479 | June 15, 1936 | |
| 102604 | "Walk That Lonesome Valley" | Bluebird 6596 | June 15, 1936 | |
| 102605 | "Got a Home In that Rock" | Bluebird 6539 | June 15, 1936 | |
| 102606 | "Johnson's Old Grey Mule" | Bluebird 6584 | June 15, 1936 | |
| 102607 | "Won't Be Worried Long" | Bluebird 6738 | June 15, 1936 | |
| 102608 | "Going Down the River of Jordan" | Bluebird 6539 | June 15, 1936 | |
| 102609 | "Why Do You Bob Your Hair Girls" | Bluebird 6792 | June 15, 1936 | |
| 102610 | "Down Among the Budded Roses" | Bb unissued | June 15, 1936 | |
| 102611 | "Watermelon On the Vine" | Bluebird 6584 | June 15, 1936 | |
| 2530 | "They Said My Lord Was a Devil" | Bluebird 6653 | October 1936 | |
| 2533 | "Just One Way To the Pearly Gates" | Bluebird 6784 | October 1936 | |
| 2534 | "Dear Daddy You're Gone" | Bluebird 6752 | October 1936 | |
| 2537 | "Cowboy's Pony In Heaven" | Bluebird 6653 | October 1936 | |
| 11815 | "I'm Not Turning Backward" | Bluebird 7165 | August 2, 1937 | |
| 11818 | "Mountain Sweetheart" | Bluebird 7587 | August 2, 1937 | |
| 11819 | "Don't Forget Me Lil Darlin'" | Bluebird 7587 | August 2, 1937 | |
| 11987 | "We Can't Be Darlings Anymore" | Bluebird 7151 | August 5, 1937 | |
| 11988 | "Tell Mother I'll Meet Her" | Bluebird 7222 | August 5, 1937 | |
| 11989 | "In a Little Village Church Yard" | Bluebird 7222 | August 5, 1937 | |
| 11990 | "Carry Your Cross With a Smile" | Bluebird 7523 | August 5, 1937 | |
| 11991 | "Swing the Door of Your Heart Open Wide" | Bluebird 7401 | August 5, 1937 | Leonard Stokes/George Morris |
| 11992 | "Answer To Greenback Dollar" | Bluebird 7151 | August 5, 1937 | |
| 11993 | "There's A Green Hill Far Away" | Bluebird 7401 | August 5, 1937 | |
| 11994 | "Miss Me When I'm Gone" | Bluebird 7349 | August 5, 1937 | Leonard Stokes/George Morris |
| 11995 | "Floating Down the Stream of Time" | Bluebird 7523 | August 5, 1937 | |
| 11996 | "Don't Go Out" | Bluebird 7349 | August 5, 1937 | |
| 11997 | "Don't Get Trouble In Your Mind" | Bluebird 7289 | August 5, 1937 | |
| 11998 | "Kiss Me Cindy" | Bluebird 7289 | August 5, 1937 | |
| 18763 | "Lonely Tomb" | Bluebird 7424 | January 27, 1938 | |
| 18765 | "All My Friends" | Bluebird 7424 | January 27, 1938 | |
| 18767 | "Don't Get Too Deep In Love" | Bluebird 7483 | January 27, 1938 | |
| 18768 | "Don't Leave Me Alone" | Bluebird 7561 | January 27, 1938 | |
| 18769 | "I Won't Be Worried" | Bluebird 7561 | January 27, 1938 | |
| 18770 | "Where Romance Calls" | Bluebird 7753 | January 27, 1938 | |
| 18771 | "Another Alabama Camp Meeting" | Bluebird 7753 | January 27, 1938 | |
| 26981 | "Farther Along" | Bluebird 8023 | September 1938 | |
| 26982 | "Dear Loving Mother and Dad" | Bluebird 8152 | September 1938 | |
| 26983 | "Can't Tell About These Women" | Bluebird 7965 | September 1938 | |
| 26985 | "If I Had Listened To Mother" | Bluebird 8137 | September 1938 | |
| 26986 | "She Is Spreading Her Wings For a Journey" | Bluebird 8023 | September 1938 | |
| 26997 | "Mother Still Prays For You" | Bluebird 8137 | September 1938 | |
| 27702 | "More Good Women Gone Wrong" | Bluebird 7965 | September 1938 | |
| 32625 | "Sparkling Blue Eyes" | Bluebird 8042 | February 1939 | |
| 32626 | "We Will Miss Him" | Bluebird 8042 | February 1939 | |
| 32627 | "I Left My Home In the Mountains" | Bluebird 8091 | February 1939 | |
| 32628 | "I Met Her At a Ball One Night" | Bluebird 8091 | February 1939 | |
| 32629 | "You May Forsake Me" | Bluebird 8120 | February 1939 | |
| 32630 | "Look On and Cry" | Bluebird 8120 | February 1939 | |
| 32631 | "One Little Kiss" | Bluebird 8145 | February 1939 | |
| 32632 | "Mama Don't Make Me Go To Bed" | Bluebird 8145 | February 1939 | |
| 32635 | "Drunkard's Hiccoughs" | Bluebird 8400 | February 4, 1939 | |
| 32636 | "Country Blues" | Bluebird 8187 | February 4, 1939 | |
| 32637 | "I'm A Poor Pilgrim" | Montgomery W. 7880 | February 4, 1939 | |
| 32638 | "Concord Rag" | Bluebird 8187 | February 4, 1939 | |
| ? | "Crying Holy" | Bluebird 8203 | 1939 | |
| ? | "Heaven's Bells Are Ringing" | Bluebird 8203 |
Daddy John Love
| Matrix | Title | Record # | Recording date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 102725 | "I Am Dreaming of Mother" | Bluebird 6583 | June 20, 1936 |
| 102726 | "Cotton Mill Blues" | Bluebird 6491 | June 20, 1936 |
| 102727 | "Blue Days" | Bluebird 6583 | June 20, 1936 |
| 102728 | "There's No Place Like Home" | Bluebird 6491 | June 20, 1936 |
| 102729 | "Homeless Child" | Bluebird 8199 | June 20, 1936 |
| 102730 | "Where Is My Mama" | Bluebird 8199 | June 20, 1936 |
Leonard Stokes/George Morris
| Matrix | Title | Record # | Recording date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18600 | "Your Best Friend Is Always Near" | Bluebird 7586 | January 23, 1938 |
| 18601 | "Lamp Lighting Time In Heaven" | Bluebird 7412 | January 23, 1938 |
| 18602 | "When the Light's Gone Out In Your Soul" | Bluebird 7586 | January 23, 1938 |
| 18603 | "Once I Loved a Young Man" | Bluebird 7659 | January 23, 1938 |
| 18604 | "Somebody Cares" | Bluebird 7659 | January 23, 1938 |
| 18605 | "I'm Living the Right Life Now" | Bluebird 7412 | January 23, 1938 |
| 18606 | "Just Over In the Glory Land" | Bluebird 7730 | January 23, 1938 |
| 18607 | "I'm In the Glory Land Way" | Bluebird 7730 | January 23, 1938 |
| 18608 | "If I Lose Let Me Lose" | Bluebird 7471 | January 23, 1938 |
| 18609 | "Great Reaping Day" | Bluebird 7958 | January 23, 1938 |
| 18610 | "Oh Why Did I Ever Get Married" | Bluebird 7471 | January 23, 1938 |
| 18611 | "Back To Johnson City" | Bluebird 7845 | January 23, 1938 |